A wicked mother swaps her son and sucks his blood? The true legitimate daughter is reborn and goes o

Song Qingning realized she was staring at the Prince of Huai's hand and immediately looked away.

Xie Xuanjin seemed to be hiding something, placing his hand on his lower back.

Today's palace banquet is being held in Ronghua Hall.

As soon as Song Qingning arrived at Ronghua Palace, she saw Princess Yu, Princess Rouan, and several ladies from the Meng family.

They stepped forward, bowed, and greeted each of them.

The elders were very kind to Song Qingning, saying she had grown taller and was even more beautiful.

Song Qingning was not shy. When they praised her, she sincerely thanked them and returned the compliments one by one. It was a harmonious exchange of gifts.

Princess Rouan watched from the side with great admiration.

She was most afraid of being praised by the elders, and she never knew how to deal with it. Qingning, on the other hand, handled it with ease and was well liked by the elders.

Suddenly, a noise came from not far away.

Princess Yu sent her maid to investigate.

Soon, the nanny returned and reported: "It's Princess Yuzhen. The princess's jade pendant went missing just now. I heard it was a birthday gift given to the princess by Consort Shen when she was alive. Fortunately, a young master found it and returned it to the princess."

A young master?

Both Lady Anguo and Lady Mengqi's eyelids twitched at the same time.

Lady Anguo asked anxiously, "Which family's young master is it?"

"That young master looks unfamiliar, but judging from his attire, he should be a candidate for this year's imperial examination," the nanny replied.

Lady Anguo's heart pounded even harder, and she sent someone to look for her nephew. She learned that Ye Qishao was not nearby and was not the student who found the jade pendant.

Only then did Madam Anguo feel relieved.

We must not allow Princess Yuzhen to develop feelings for her nephew.

Lady Anguo gave Song Qingning a grateful look.

When the banquet was about to begin, the court officials and their wives took their seats, and the emperor, empress, and empress dowager arrived one after another with several concubines.

Everyone bowed and took their seats.

At the last Dragon Boat Festival banquet, before Marquis Yongning returned to the capital, Lady Liu brought Song Qingyan to the palace banquet. Song Qingning sat next to that mother and daughter, and her mood was completely different from now.

Song Qingning glanced at her father and mother sitting in front of her, and then at her brother sitting next to her.

A family of four, all neatly arranged.

Song Qingning felt inexplicably at ease.

Then he looked at the Prince of Huai not far away, who sat alone at a table, all by himself.

Besides Song Qingning, Xie Xuanjin was also being looked at.

Two other pairs of eyes were also watching Xie Xuanjin.

The gazes of Shen Wan'er and Xue San Guniang were intense, one burning, the other tender.

"Father, my jade pendant was almost lost today, but fortunately someone found it and returned it to me," Princess Yuzhen suddenly said.

Princess Yuzhen had bright and beautiful eyes.

In his previous life, Song Mingtang, in order to please Prince Rui, disguised himself as Mingyue Xian and was tasked with replicating Consort Shen's portrait for him.

Song Mingtang handed the tattered original painting to Song Qingning.

The Consort Shen in the painting is beautiful, but she lacks the grandeur of Empress Meng and the quiet elegance of her mother.

Instead, it is gentle.

Her eyebrows and eyes were gentle, her figure was graceful, and her inner gentleness was like water.

The original painting was painted by Emperor Yuan himself. From that painting, Song Qingning could see that Emperor Yuan's love for Consort Shen was heartfelt.

Although Princess Yuzhen was not gentle, she resembled Consort Shen by about 70%.

The daughter born to his beloved woman looks just like his deceased lover.

Emperor Yuan doted on Princess Yuzhen.

Princess Yuzhen merely mentioned it, and Emperor Yuan chuckled and said, "Who found the princess's jade pendant? I will reward them handsomely!"

A student stepped forward and bowed, saying, "I am a commoner."

Excitement shone in the student's eyes.

Song Qingning did not know him.

Thinking to myself, could it be that Princess Yuzhen in her previous life publicly requested a marriage decree at a palace banquet because the person who found the jade pendant was Ye Qishao?

In this life, the person who picked up the jade pendant has changed.

Will Princess Yuzhen's requested marriage partner be changed?

Just then, Emperor Yuan asked Princess Yuzhen, "Yu'er, how do you want your father to reward him?"

Everyone looked at Princess Yuzhen, including the student.

Princess Yuzhen glanced at the student; the admiration in his eyes was too intense. She had seen many such admirations before, but none of them had status or good looks that caught her eye.

But the student seemed to lack self-awareness.

Princess Yuzhen covered her mouth and chuckled, "How about Father Emperor rewards him with some gold, silver, and fine jade?"

There was no mention of an arranged marriage.

Song Qingning was surprised, but seeing that the student's appearance was not outstanding, she understood.

In his previous life, Ye Qishao was a third-ranked scholar in the imperial examinations and was exceptionally handsome.

"Okay, of course, someone come here."

Emperor Yuan ordered Eunuch Gao to immediately prepare gold, silver, and jade to reward the scholar, and then asked him, "Are you satisfied?"

"Satisfied, satisfied." The students nodded and thanked them profusely.

Disappointment lingered in my heart.

Looking again at Princess Yuzhen, she had already looked away.

Song Qingning kept an eye on Princess Yuzhen.

Princess Yuzhen looked around, her gaze stopping twice: once in the direction of the Ye family, and the other time beside her.

Song Qingning was horrified.

The surrounding banquet was lively, but Song Qingning felt her head was spinning, and she didn't even notice that the wine in her glass had spilled.

Song Shiyin noticed her unusual behavior. "Ning'er, what's wrong?"

Song Qingning looked at her brother beside her.

Before entering the palace, she had also instructed her brother to dress discreetly and not to stand out in any way.

The elder brother was dressed in a blue robe, without even wearing a jade pendant for decoration.

Unassuming and low-key.

But she overlooked the fact that her brother also had a very handsome face.

Just then, amidst the sounds of the banquet, the Empress Dowager's voice rang out:

"I am tired, I will go back to the palace to rest."

The Empress Dowager was helped to her feet by her nanny.

Consort Lan also felt suffocated by the surrounding noise and rose to ask the Emperor for permission, "Your Majesty, I am not feeling well and would like to..."

Consort Lan had just finished speaking.

Suddenly, a meow rang out, and a white cat appeared out of nowhere, pouncing straight at Consort Lan.

"Ah..." Consort Lan was startled and cried out.

Just as the white cat was about to pounce on Consort Lan, two figures rushed over from different directions.

One was Empress Meng, and the other was Song Qingning.

Empress Meng pounced on the white cat and caught it in her arms before it could touch Consort Lan.

Song Qingning stood behind Consort Lan, stabilizing her body as she seemed about to collapse.

Everything turned out alright, though it was a close call.

Consort Lan glanced at Song Qingning, who was protecting her, still shaken.

At this moment, someone exclaimed, "Your Majesty, your hand..."

Everyone looked at Empress Meng, who was holding a white cat. The white cat was scratching wildly in her arms, and its sharp claws left a bloody mark on the back of the empress's hand, which was shocking.

"Summon the imperial physician!" Xie Xuanjin immediately ordered.

The imperial physician arrived quickly to examine the injury on the Empress's hand.

Empress Meng held the frantically scratching white cat in her arms. "Tuantuan isn't usually like this; it's very docile. Why is it suddenly acting like this today?"

Empress Meng had just finished speaking when Consort Lan cried out in pain.

Consort Lan suddenly clutched her stomach, her expression pained and panicked. "My stomach! Your Majesty, I am pregnant with your child! Someone is trying to harm me..."

Consort Lan collapsed to the ground, blood seeping through the hem of her skirt.